Even before the Los Angeles Lakers failed to crack 100 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, the team's new offense was under attack.

The man who's in charge of running that offense, point guard Steve Nash, is preaching patience.

Steve Nash sat out of the Lakers' Friday loss to the Clippers with a leg bruise. He asked for patience from those criticizing their slow start. (AP Photo)

Nash told ESPN's Chris Broussard that the new scheme is a "work in progress" and that things should improve with more repetition.

"Long term we've got to give this offense a great chance, and I think it can be terrific for us," Nash told Broussard during an in-game interview. Nash sat out the game because of a leg bruise suffered in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

LA is averaging 97.3 points in its first three games, all losses. This year's slow start marks the first time the team has gotten off to 0-3 since the 1978-79 season. The Lakers are also averaging about as many turnovers (19.7 per game) as assists (20.0).

The offense, which SN's Sean Deveney notes includes some Princeton-style, read-and-react sets brought over by new assistant coach Eddie Jordan, is a departure from the pick-and-roll sets Nash has executed with great efficiency during his career.

Nash told Broussard the team can still run pick-and-rolls at times, but he's not comfortable with doing it too much right now. He also said the current attack creates opportunities for all five players on the floor.

"I think the offense allows each guy to be a threat and I think when you have a bunch of talent that's a great philosophy to have," Nash said.

Kobe Bryant made a similar point, albeit more bluntly, on Thursday when he tried to quiet the critics. Bryant compared the early struggles of the Princeton-type attack to troubles with the triangle offense installed by former Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

“(People in LA have) seen us win multiple championships here, playing in an offense that was tough to learn, that was a sequence of options, that were not set plays, that took five guys being on the same page and working together. They know how that stuff works. So, for them to be so stupid now and say, ‘Let Steve dribble around and create opportunities for everybody, let Dwight (Howard) post up, or let me iso.’ It’s uh, I don’t want to say idiotic, but it’s close,” Bryant told reporters.